ONE LIVE BADGER

For their first album, Badger's unusually decided on a live release. Interest in the band was fuelled by the presence of former Yes keyboard player Tony Kaye. The Yes connection was strengthened by the presence of Dave Foster who had played in the Warriors with Jon Anderson. The pair also wrote two of the tracks on "Time and a word" together and Jon Anderson co-produced this album.

"One live Badger" was recorded at the Rainbow theatre in London in December 1972. Badger were supporting Yes on this part of the tour which also produced the "Yessongs" album. As the equipment had been set up for recording Yes at the Rainbow for that album, Atlantic records, to whom both Yes and Badger were signed, decided to record Badger's performance. Thus the album was recorded in front on a much larger yet sympathetic audience than they might otherwise have attracted.

"Wheel of fortune" opens the album, Kaye immediately switching on the mellotron on a fairly funky track which includes an early burst of Parrish's lead guitar work. Kaye also slips in a fine Hammond solo. "Fountain" is slightly slower, but in a similar vein, with an interesting synthesiser solo to finish. The vocals, which are generally the weak point of the album, have similarities to Peter Frampton on his "Frampton comes alive" album.

By the time "The river" appears at the start of side 2, the limited repertoire of the band is starting to show quite clearly. It's not that's it's bad, anonymous is probably a good word. It could be any of a thousand bands which played in pubs week in week out, in the hope of being spotted.

The album consists of six tracks in total, all of which are of similar length, and unfortunately all of a similar sound. A bit of variety would have helped enormously. I can't help feeling that if they had released this as a studio album, the results would have been a whole lot better. There are firm indications that Badger had potential, the guitar and keyboard work for example is very good. The vocals are average to poor, and in desperate need of a studio producer to work his magic over them. The overall sound is rather raw and unbalanced.

From a presentation perspective, "One live Badger" benefited from a fine Roger Dean gatefold cover, with a popup section inside.

Despite their credentials, significant success eluded Badger, and after a further studio album with a revised line up, they disbanded. Sadly, Badger need to go down as a missed opportunity.

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